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The Education Gadfly Show

Mike and Dara tear themselves away from round-the-clock royal baby coverage to bring you commentary on ESEA renewal, the cost of PARCC’s tests, and special-education vouchers. Amber throws down OECD statistics.

Tanned and refreshed, Mike’s back in the saddle, this time joined by Fordham media relations and outreach manager Michelle Gininger to talk Common Core tests, Wisconsin’s Act 10, and school accountability in the Sunshine State. Amber digs into the statistics on child well-being.

Dara and Daniela—covering for Mike “Never-Returning-from-the-Beach-Because-These-Fruity-Drinks-Are-Too-Good” Petrilli—throw down on NYC’s transfer high schools, California’s potential NGSS adoption, and MOOCs in K–12 education. Amber is upbeat about early-college high schools.

With Mike beaching it in an undisclosed location, Dara and Daniela take on some big topics: If affirmative action were to end, how could colleges maintain diversity? Do teachers need convincing to use technology? All things considered, is college worth it? Amber charts a course to charter quality.

Mike and Dara discuss NCLB reauthorization, NYC’s teacher evaluations, and the relationship between poverty and educational outcomes. Amber revels in the glory of having finally gotten Fordham’s epic pensions out the door.

Can wonky Mike and data-loving Dara come to an agreement on Texas’s education reforms, Illinois’s rebuff of online learning, and a moratorium on Common Core–related stakes? Amber joins the number-cruncher brigade with a study on the effect of career and technical education on math achievement.

While discussing UFT pandering, Algebra 2 mandates, and Common Core consortia, Mike and Andy try very, very hard not to say the two magic words that rain down the wrath of the IRS (hint: they begin with T and P). Amber sorts through teacher sorting—but can she really do it in under a minute? Listen to find out!

About the Education Gadfly Show

For more than eight years, the Fordham Institute has been hosting a weekly podcast, The Education Gadfly Show. Each week, you’ll get three lively, entertaining discussions of recent education news, usually featuring Fordham’s Mike Petrilli, with questions read by Ellen Alpaugh. Then the wise Amber Northernwill recap a recent research study.

Download the podcast using the link to the left or subscribe via iTunes.